Research by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy shows that teens identify parents as the biggest influence on their sexual health. At work, we do great workshops with parents and caregivers of teens using a wonderful approach developed in Minnesota by some smart, talented people called It's That Easy. The workshops provide support to and empower parents, caregivers, and families to have conversations with the young people in their lives about sexuality topics. One of the activities at the start of the workshops has participants reflect on their experiences with sexuality education. We have them line up along a spectrum, like in the picture below. It's really interesting, the range of experiences and feelings people have about how they learned about sexuality.
So, today, take some time and think about where you'd be. What was your sexuality education like? Who told you about it? Do you feel like you got everything you needed? What was missing?
And, what would you want the young people in your life to say? How do we get there?